The Myth of 'Perfect Apartments'
When investing money, time and effort into buying real-estate one of the pesky little problems is perfection. Perfection has always been an unattainable myth. Why do people project the idea of perfection onto their search for real-estate when much like in our personal lives, there is always room for change and renovation? Perhaps we expect perfection in an apartment because apartments are tangible things. When searching for an apartment, clients have a wishlist and they expect every box to be checked off. Wishlists can include: layout, light, size, location, proximity to yoga studios, views, original details, etc. More than ever, apartments have to be simultaneously “instagramable” while also liveable.
The perfect find would somehow fulfill every wish while staying within budget and within a one month search-time frame. But, that’s rare. More importantly, even if you find the most seemingly perfect apartment online it’s more of an illusion than it is reality. How do clients adapt their checklists (location, luminosity, layout, price, cute-coffee shop distance, etc.) to potentially “perfect” apartments? By letting go of the idea of perfection first and then opening up to editing and revising our visions. There will always be “a problem” with the place or multiple things to update and personalize, even in the most turnkey-est turn-key apartment.
What happens when we adapt a mindset of perfection to searching for real-estate? A pendulum that swings between desperation and selectiveness. Going between the two states often leads to confusion and loss of focus. While it is more than ok to be adaptable while choosing the final place, there needs to be a core focus on certain elements of the apartment. For example, if your budget is set at 500K then setting up a visit to an apartment listed at 785K is not realistic and confusing to all. Keeping the parameters of the search clear is necessary, then adapt once you find a place that meets the basic parameters.
Sometimes clients may start their search looking for one thing and fall in love with something else. This is not about settling in any way. It is about applying the adaptability that has led us to living in Paris and that keeps us going, to our ideas of our “perfect apartment” in Paris. Realize that renovation, decorating, updating, revising, fixing, all of these verbs are just as important as ‘buying’, ‘moving’ or ‘investing’. Instead of getting frustrated by the competition or by the lack of places that fit a perfect list, try to remember that no matter where you end up or what you end up buying, there is no such thing as perfection because our own idea of perfection is constantly changing.
Even if you had everything you think you want right this moment, would you be happy? Content? Possibly momentarily but, honestly no. And this is not a motivational essay or a misplaced diary entry. Rather, it’s a new way of looking at how we approach the real-estate search. We always want more, we always want to change things slightly to suit us better. There are near perfect apartments. There are amazing apartments. But more often than not, people find apartments that meet most of their criteria and then renovate, decorate, and reformulate until they can exhale. That exhale is not the reward, it’s part of the process. There will always be something to fix or change therefore, let go of the idea of perfection and embrace change, creativity and vision.
